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Honest ‘Shepherd’ Changes Diet for Korean Flock

SOME months prior to the outbreak of the Korean conflict a moksa (pastor) of a small church of the “Church of Christ” sect in Seoul permitted a friend to take refuge in his church building. His friend had recently fled across the 38th parallel to flee the Communist oppression to the north. The moksa had many different discussions with his friend on the Bible.

One day his friend brought a young man to the church to talk to the moksa. The young man was a full-time minister of Jehovah’s witnesses and had a ‘strange version’ of Christianity. The moksa and his friend listened and asked the young man many questions. They were sure the young man was mistaken, and the moksa encouraged his friend to accept the invitation offered by the witness to have another discussion a few days later. The moksa told his friend, Mr. Nam, that it was his duty to try to show this young witness of Jehovah his errors. Mr. Nam agreed and was confident he could.

On his return from the discussion the moksa asked him how it went. Mr. Nam told him that the witness had called his attention to many things in the Bible he did not know and had asked him many questions about the church’s beliefs that he could not answer. And he was very annoyed. Soon the discussions between Mr. Nam and the witness were being held with the idea in mind of Mr. Nam’s honestly wanting to know the truth. Each time he would discuss the things he learned with the moksa. They would read and discuss the publications of the Watchtower Society.

It was no surprise to the moksa when his friend, Mr. Nam, became one of Jehovah’s witnesses too. Later he attended a meeting of Jehovah’s witnesses at the Seoul missionary home and expressed his surprise that Watchtower missionaries were in Korea. He began to do some serious thinking. Then came the war. The moksa and Mr. Nam lost touch with each other. The moksa later made it down below the fighting in a little town called Yakmok, where he himself became a refugee. While there he had much time to think and study and he became convinced that Jehovah’s witnesses have the truth. While in the little rural community he organized another “church”, but taught them the truth about God’s new world of righteousness with its provision of the paradise earth. Later he returned to Seoul and began preaching this truth to what was left of his former congregation.

Then in the spring of this year when the Seoul company began to meet again in the damaged missionary home he found the witnesses again. He talked to the company servant about some questions that still were bothering him and asked where Brother Nam was. When he found that his friend was now a pioneer in Taegu he took a train to talk with him. In Taegu his final questions were cleared away and he asked Brother Nam to baptize him. Then (May 1952) he and Brother Nam went to visit the little group in Yakmok. They found the little group continuing in the way of truth. Brother Nam and the former moksa, now known as plain Brother Lee, baptized six of them and encouraged them to continue their meetings and carry out their obligations of service. Later during the month of July the Society’s missionary paid a visit to Yakmok and found seven publishers working there.

Brother Lee returned to Seoul and his former congregation. There he asked all of his flock who were interested to come to the Kingdom Hall where he was going. He resigned from his church, making a long statement of his reasons. He stated that he had nothing to criticize the Church of Christ about except on doctrine, and then he proceeded to give, point by point, the major points of the church’s beliefs that he felt were contrary to the Bible’s teaching and meaning. He had his statement mimeographed and distributed among all the other moksas and members of his former church that he knew.

At this writing ten members of his former congregation have been immersed and others are studying and looking into the matter carefully. As for the former moksa himself—during the month of June he reported 140 hours in field service. His wife and son are Kingdom publishers now, too.